Machado's poetic imagery

I was surprised at how interested I was in the poems we discussed in class by Antonio Machado. I tend to avoid poetry mostly because I have difficulty understanding it, but after discussing the poems in class I wanted to read other poems by Machado. Specifically, I enjoyed the style of “Modernismo” because of how it conjured very different, strange, but enjoyable imagery in my mind. In the past year or so I have made a conscious effort to appreciate the beauty we take for granted in every day life, like looking at how the snow sits on top of tree branches in the oval. I feel like these poems aim to do the same thing, to different degrees of course, and that is why I feel an affinity towards them.

One poem I found that I especially enjoyed was “La Noria” (The waterwheel) in Soledades, galerías y otros poemas. While reading this poem, I could literally picture and hear water being elevated in a waterwheel and the sound of it trickling into the body of water below. The imagery relaxed me, just like the mule in the poem that sleeps to the beat of the water.

I also found another poem in the same collection where he makes use of the waterwheel. In “Mí corazón se ha dormido”, Machado uses the waterwheel as a metaphor to describe how his thoughts function. He questions whether his thoughts and heart are vacant, like a waterwheel which stops spinning because there is no water. This imagery I find to be beautiful, and I can really appreciate the careful choice of words that Machado uses. I hope to continue reading more of Machado’s poems.

La Noria

La tarde caía
triste y polvorienta.
El agua cantaba
su copla plebeya
en los cangilones
de la noria lenta.
Soñaba la mula,
¡pobre mula vieja!,
al compás de la sombra
que en el agua suena.
La tarde caía
triste y polvorienta.
Yo no sé qué noble,
divino poeta,
unió a la amargura
de la eterna rueda
la dulce armonía
del agua que sueña,
y vendó tus ojos,
¡pobre mula vieja!...
Mas sé que fue un noble,
divino poeta,
corazón maduro
de sombra y de ciencia.

Mí corazón se ha dormido?

¿Mí corazón se ha dormido?
Colmenares de mis sueños,
¿ya no labráis? ¿Está seca
la noria del pensamiento,
los cangilones vacíos,
girando, de sombra llenos?
No; mi corazón no duerme.
Está despierto, despierto.
Ni duerme ni sueña; mira,
los claros ojos abiertos,
señas lejanas y escucha
a orillas del gran silencio.